Your Opinion

The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell" who is running for Commissioner of the Revenue in Colonial Heights is sponsoring "Roll to the Poll" for the Nov. 3, 2009 General

Election Day 'Roll to the Poll' in Colonial Heights

To the Editor:

The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell" who is running for Commissioner of the Revenue in Colonial Heights is sponsoring "Roll to the Poll" for the Nov. 3, 2009 General Election.

"Roll to the Poll" is a free service offered to any citizen of the City of Colonial Heights who is in need of transportation to the polls to place their votes on Nov. 3, 2009. Each voting precinct will have a committee member and a vehicle ready to dispatch. This service is paid for by The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell."

We are asking Citizens of Colonial Heights to contact us if they need transportation to the polls to vote so that we can arrange transportation for them. With the tough economic times we are currently feeling, it seems tragic that a citizen of our city might not get a chance to practice their right to vote just because they either do not have a driver's license, a vehicle, or have a health condition that would make it difficult for them to get to the polls.

The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell" wants to remedy this by making transportation available to these Citizens. This is a free service to the Citizens of Colonial Heights, and it does not matter who you wish to vote for, or why you need the transportation. Neither of these questions will be asked of you. Our main goal is to make sure that everyone who wishes to vote, will have the transportation available to vote!

Also, if you have not yet registered to vote, please contact us so that we can supply you with the correct forms. We will send and/or deliver the forms to your home. This is also a free service provided by The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell."

The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell" is making this offer public now so that we can start taking reservations. We are asking citizens to call early to have your reservation in place. This service will be offered on Election Day on a first come, first served basis, for the entire time the polls are open. Therefore, registering as early as possible will make for a smoother day to get you to the polls.

Gayle R. Braswell is committed to the citizens of Colonial Heights and we are asking that you contact us by any one of the following methods to schedule your "Roll to the Poll."

1.: Go to: www.GayleBraswell.com and use the "Contact Us" link and follow the directions.

2.: Email us at: tree50va@hotmail.com.

3.: Call Steven at: 1-804-898-2174

The first two methods are preferred so that we can provide written communication and confirmation, but, if internet access is not available to you, please make the call to Steven.

Julie B. Andrews

Campaign Manager

The Committee To Elect "Gayle R. Braswell"

Colonial Heights

Establishing minimum standards for the safety of financial products

To the Editor:

Given the urgency and severity of the financial crisis, it is not surprising that most policymakers have to date been focused on here-and-now tactical initiatives to stabilize the financial system, rather than laying the foundation for a more sound and better regulated system in the future.

There are exceptions; Senator Durbin's proposal for a Financial Product Safety Commission is one of them. The proposed Commission would establish minimum standards for the safety of financial products, and would focus especially on identifying deceptive and fraudulent practices. The institution's mandate would be analogous to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. As the proposal's sponsors argued to the Treasury Secretary in a recent letter, "there is no reason for us to have regulations that prevent toasters from exploding into flames, but no protections to prevent mortgages and credit cards from doing the same."

A more persuasive objection to the proposed Commission is that it would add to the existing thicket of state and federal financial regulators, rather than replacing them. By doing so it would create further administrative hoop-jumping and destructive friction on innovation.

The proposed Commission avoids the political complexity of reducing an incumbent institution's authority; but the fact remains that some regulators are dreadful when it comes to consumer protection. It was not by accident that Countrywide decided to re-charter its depository away from the OCC when the Fed and OCC began raising consumer protection concerns about non-traditional mortgage structures.

In reality, the industry suffers from too many regulators not from too much regulation. The proposed Commission should pre-empt them - or, at least, it should pre-empt other federal authorities on these issues. The result would be more clarity, less arbitrage, and fewer burdens.

The proposal could be improved with an expansion of its mission from merely setting minimum standards. It is certainly true that deceptive sales practices are a major problem in consumer financial services, but they aren't the main problem.

Consumers need to understand that while many financial products meet minimum standards, they are not all equally safe.

Using this approach with financial products would allow the Commission to encourage and reward especially consumer-friendly product structures, while not ironing out innovative product wrinkles. This is the outcome that we should all desire.

Submit Content

Market Place

Social Media

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Progress-Index ~ 15 Franklin Street, Petersburg, VA 23803 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service